DEV Community: Bryan Tong

Thank you

Bryan Tong — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:07:26 +0000

For being a part of my programming journey! I am excited for the new things to come.

Brand Reputation

Bryan Tong — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 20:55:02 +0000

When you code, it is important to code towards good goals. I can tell you from experience, even the best written software can harm society more than it helps.

Realizing this and cleaning up the act is the important part. There are so many people who need help with their technology stacks. I am a bit ashamed to have wasted too much time on a few ill ventures.

Time for a restart!

Happy Coding, keep the keyboard tapping.

Thinking Back and Coding Forward

Bryan Tong — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 01:58:37 +0000

I have been making web pages in some fashion since 1994. Yes, thats Internet Explorer 3. There is one thing I find crazy about that. I am just as enthusiastic about making great web pages now as I was then.

Going through all the changes and styles, that is the tough part. I feel like now that we have developed so much in terms of browsers and how they work. We now have a chance to start making a really great web that works well without the long term hassle.

I don't have a lot to go into here. However, the last couple weeks I have been diving back into the modern CSS tactics and dumping frameworks one by one. The frameworks were suspension to deal with browser differences. Now that the browsers have standardized, I find the frameworks adding more complexity than they solve. That goes for JavaScript and CSS. There is no real benefit to bringing tools you don't need to solve problems you don't have.

I am finding it easier and easier to work with mobile first design and still have a great display on desktop. Without draging in some 12 column grid or making a bunch of vanilla classes. It's not that bad to write the CSS and the JS from scratch and still end up with a stunning website. What I find really great, is that without a framework there is no need for framework knowledge or documentation.

I do want to offer up one thought. If using a framework because you can search solutions seems like a good idea, it might be a better idea to search for solutions in the native language. Typically, learning something in the native language is a one time task without the need for the manual in the future. Frameworks always feel like an anchor to me, meaning I have to read and memorize their documentation, in order to do what I already know how to do.

I didn't want this blog to turn into an anti-framework post because its not and I like frameworks. My point is that the internet is demanding faster loading, lighter sites. With the modern browser being on billions of devices, it's simply time to start trusting the browser as the framework. That way, you will be shipping a very light code set (No CDN, etc). Your site will be crazy fast.

Signing Off...

Dont Let Your Project Ice Over

Bryan Tong — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 06:13:18 +0000

Hello and Welcome to my Corner!

An Introduction to Myself

I like to make my posts into a conversation or at least like I told them to you from across the table. I was thinking of how to start out writing to this great community and I finally came up with a great Ice Breaker! Oh the pun.

Workloads that Create Ice

My workload consists of managing a multitude of projects this is partly a disaster of my own making but also a result of time spent working. I have over 100 projects that are published to the internet. That being said there is no good way to either reduce the number of projects or touch them more often.

What is Project Icing

That is where this article comes to a head. A common problem I run into with my projects is ice over the project leaving me foggy on what to do or where to go. Like most developers I employ a small army of task management tools but honestly these ice over just as easily as the project itself.

That is what I have come up with a small concise solution to help with project ice:

Write Your Last Thought Into resume.txt

Yep! That is it, our brains are like relational databases in their own way and we usually need a link to stir our memory and jog that mental space back into the clear.

An Example

So lets try this out for an example.

I just finished working on my latest project putting in a subscription module to collect email addresses before launch. It's late and then writing this post took some more time so I am plenty ready for bed. Its time to setup a resume.txt, it should be simple and leave a simple task at hand to get the next round of coding off the ground in a flash.

Here is my example

resume.txt

Okay, its been a good session.
Now you must finish the sign up page scripting to handle validation.

Again, nice and simple. The simpler the better, the more complexity there is in the message the more it serves to add to the ice.

Why resume.txt?

Well it is also imperative to have a nice consistent place to look to get the memory stir going, this goes back to having a multitude of task managers that confuse the idea of where to look to get started.

Why I Think resume.txt Works

I am a post it note kind of person, I like short concise notes that embellish a larger more complex thought that is stored elsewhere. I believe this is a post it note system that can stay consistent across any project. I would also recommend against putting this file into version control as it should be personal to the developer.

Let me know what you think!